Friday, 11 November 2016

The applications for Java Native Access are limited only by the functions and parameters that the external DLL files allow. In this post, we discuss how JNA can be used to obtain the process identifying number of the calling process.

The Kernel32.dll file supports a GetCurrentProcessId function that performs the terribly important function of returning the unique identifying number of the calling process. The return value is an integer. Following is the C++ syntax straight from the msdn page:

DWORD WINAPI GetCurrentProcessId(void);

As can be seen from the function signature, this takes in no parameters at all. We begin, next, by creating a new Java application project (I prefer Netbeans IDE). We then, link the necessary jna-4.2.2.jar to the project, and create a new package. Though the creation of the latter is not necessary, it is nonetheless an excellent practice.The first way to go aboutThere are two ways to go about the project. In the first case, we create a single Java file thus:

This when compiled and run (in Netbeans IDE) results an output that is similar to the one shown here:

run:

Own process ID is 4960

BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 0 seconds)

On examining the single class file, it becomes evident that the interface name Kenl32 does not need to be identical to the primary file name of Kernel32.dll. In fact, this can be any regular valid name so long as it is uniformly addressed. Ditto in case of the instance variable INNE.

The most significant component of the whole code is the method public int GetCurrentProcessId() which gathers the integer return value from the function call Kenl32.INNE.GetCurrentProcessId().

System.out.println("Own Process ID number is as follows: " + instnc.GetCurrentProcessId());

}

}

The resultant output is as follows:

run:

Own Process ID number is as follows: 6068

BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 0 seconds)

Many would find the second way of coding to be cleaner and perhaps slightly more structured.

Users may note that the packages, interfaces and classes have been randomly named. This has been done intentionally to show the degree of customization possible with the interface and instance names.

The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Mr. Rajesh Bose. Mr. Bose is a research scholar and an eminent author of papers in the field of Cloud and IoT computing. Mr. Bose has also written a book titled A Deep Vista of the fascinating world of Cloud Computing. He is currently writing another book in IoT which is soon to be published. Mr. Bose holds keen interest in Java programming in his quest to develop interesting models in Cloud and IoT computing.

Wednesday, 9 November 2016

The world of Java programming has always been exciting. Java won over the hearts and minds of programmers owing to its portability, ruggedness and, of course, object-oriented programming features.

However, many would argue that Java has played second fiddle to its more distinguished brethren - C and C++. That has been due to the fact that it does not offer seamless integration with dynamic linked library files (DLLs on Windows, and shared objects (SO files) on Linux). The path to integration has been through complex and often time-consuming process of Java Native Interface programming.

The Java Native Access library - which this post attempts to introduce - was developed and rolled out almost nine years ago, to mitigate the problems associated with linked library files integration. More specifically, this library allowed less of clutter and frees the developer to think and focus more on the problem, rather than get mired in complexities involving Java Native Interface.

In the course of the years in which I have produced software using Java, I have always come across issues that required attention to certain programming aspects that went way beyond what could be achieved efficiently using Java. In most cases, I found the need to dig deeper into operating system internals in order to make certain features come alive.

The Java Native Access Library has been around longer than the time I ever first came into contact with it. Indeed my first search yielded several blogs in prominent online Java journals. However, most were either abstruse or esoteric for me to understand. Even now, after several projects' worth of experience, most of the programs produced in such blogs, fine though that they are, throw up errors when put in practice.

The Java Native Access Library itself depends upon a small dynamic link library to perform its intended functions. The very excellent Getting Started with JNA page provides all necessary details to get up and running in almost no time at all. What follows next, however, is an implementation of how a Java program can be built with the help of Java Native Access library.

We shall cut through the obvious and perhaps basic steps of setting up an IDE, Java SDK, and importing the required jna library. In the following example, I use jna-4.2.2.jar file.

We begin by creating a package within a newly created Java project, of course. We create an interface and write it thus:

package jna01;import com.sun.jna.*;import com.sun.jna.win32.StdCallLibrary;import java.util.Arrays;import java.util.List;/** * * @author satadru */public interface Kernel32 extends StdCallLibrary { public static class SYSTEMTIME extends Structure { public short wYear; public short wMonth; public short wDayOfWeek; public short wDay; public short wHour; public short wMinute; public short wSecond; public short wMilliSecond; @Override protected List getFieldOrder() { return Arrays.asList(new String[]{"wYear", "wMonth", "wDayOfWeek", "wDay", "wHour", "wMinute", "wSecond", "wMilliSecond"}); } } void GetLocalTime(SYSTEMTIME result);}At this point, I would like to present a frank admission. The interface, and the class file that follows hereafter, is a copy from the very excellent article written by Jeff Friesen for Java World. However, there is something about this interface that sets it apart from the one that Mr. Friesen had composed over eight years ago. But before, we begin discussing the difference, the accompanying class file is presented for the impatient.

The instance tine has been purposely spelled that way to obviate the possibility of confusing the same with java.time.

As would be evident upon compiling and running of the project (I prefer Netbeans IDE), the results are on the expected lines. A sample output is produced below:

Year is 2016Month is 11Day of Week is 3Day is 9Hour is 17Minute is 40Second is 18Milliseconds are 343

It is the interface that is most interesting part in the whole program. Mr. Friesen has produced a lucid explanation on how this functions. I would not even presume to elaborate on this, simply because there could be little value added to what he has already written. What, however, is interesting is that the interface that he wrote over eight years ago, throws up errors if produced verbatim.

It appears that the static class [SYSTEMTIME] inside the interface needs to override the getFieldMethod() which resides in the abstract class com.sun.jna.Structure that the static class extends!

The purpose of the above method is to obtain the list of field names in the order these actually appear in the SYSTEMTIME structure of Kernel32.dll.

In fine, programming with Java Native Access is interesting. It invokes host of opportunities that are not easily replicated through pure Java coding. Through this blog post, I intended to share my initial experiences unraveling the complexities associated with native codes.